Liza is a beautiful goose, A small bird, her body is white with black wingtips with a perfect round head with a small short neck. In her group of friends, she is the silent one who spoke only when necessary. She thought silently about things before speaking her them. At first, her friends thought she was a little creepy but as time went on, they learned to wait and follow her guidance because more than one time she was right. She had quite an entourage.
The rumors were spreading through the Flock now about certain geese being asked to go before the Wist tomorrow at First Light. Liza is currently one of five geese floating in the sunshine in the middle of the pond and they were gossiping.
“I heard that they approached Drifter and demanded that he appear before the Wist,” Windy said knowingly.
“How do you know?” Liza asked her.
“Mandy told me.”
“Mandy?” Liza nodded skeptically.
“Who came to him?” Another asked Windy.
“One of Deke’s personal Sentries,” Windy was beginning to enjoy the attention. Liza began to swim around the outskirts of the group and glanced toward the Meeting Place.
“I also heard that High was told the same thing,” Windy began to reveal all that she knows to the group.
“And who told you that?” Liza asked of Windy.
Windy turned toward Liza as she responded to the question, “Bob told me that.”
“Bob.” Lilly thought, now Bob is little more reliable than Mandy. “And who told him?”
“One of the Sentries, Deke’s Sentries,” Windy answered.
The group of five geese began to swim, naturally following Liza’s path. A sixth goose was approaching them. It was Mandy and she seemed in a hurry to join them. Windy swam toward her, meeting her at the edge of the group’s small circle.
“What’s up, Mandy?” Windy asked excitedly.
“Yes, yes,” Mandy began as all but Liza huddled about her to hear the latest news. “I just heard the Jake and Ki were also asked to appear to the Wist, too. By Marcus, or was it, Gabriel? It does not matter! They were both told to appear.”
“Oh my! I wonder what they have done!” a gray goose exclaimed loudly and after being shushed, she continued, “Those two are always up to something.”
“Don’t you mean four geese?” Liza asked them.
The other five geese turned behind them and rested their eyes on Liza and waited.
“What do you mean four geese?” Windy asked her, waiting anxiously.
“You, and Mandy, have told us about four geese, Drifter, High, Jake and Ki.”
Mandy confirmed the statement, “True. What are you getting at?”
“Well, if there were four geese involved in something, everyone would know about it. Do any of you know of any reason what these four geese would be doing together?”
“Maybe they were going to “visit” females?” someone suggested.
Liza looked at the speaker with her shiny blue eyes and stared. Now, the group was surrounding Liza.
“No that wasn’t it. It has to be something else,” Liza thought aloud. “It is something else. As far as I now, none of these four had anything to do with each other.”
“Jake and Ki are always together,” Mandy reminded Liza.
“That is true,” Liza said and swam to the left a bit and back to where she began. “They will not do anything without the other. They are bonded together.”
“They are,” Windy repeated. “Maybe whatever they did, it was their idea and they need Drifter and High.”
“But even so, why?” Liza wondered. “Does anyone know Drifter?”
“A little,” the gray goose now whispered. “I kind of like him, sort of.”
Liza turned her attention to the gray goose and asked her. “Matilda, do you know him?”
Matilda squirmed under Liza’s scrutiny. “Not really. I liked to watch him and dream that he would like me too, and we would be together forever. I did see him earlier today.”
“What happened?” Liza queried.
“He was swimming. It was like he was practicing, and he was going fast. He spun out and I laughed out loud. I am surprised he did not hear me, so I slipped behind some reeds. Petra was with him. That is when I saw a Sentry swim toward him and they spoke together. Then the Sentry flew away, and I swam away.”
“So we have an eyewitness to one of the meets,” Liza summarized and turned on Mandy. “Any reason why your sources have said only Drifter was asked when you just heard that Petra was there, too?”
“Well, no. This is the first time I heard Petra’s name.”
“I wonder what’s going on,” Liza said as she turned away from the group and looked at the opening to The Meeting Place. The other geese lined up beside her and joined her in looking at the cave opening. As they silently watched, the two large Sentries emerged from inside. One stopped at the doorway while the other looked around and seemed to stop to stare at them That goose began toward them and was definitely swimming straight at the group. The line of geese, all female, remained in formation and calm.
It was Gabriel. It was plain to see who it was as he got closer to them. He stopped about three wingspans in front of them and everyone treaded silently in the water, gently rising and falling with each small wave.
“What do you want?” Liza asked for the group, defiantly.”
“I am looking for Liza.”
“I am Liza,” she responded.
“You are asked to appear before the Wist tomorrow at First Light. Will you come?”
“What is this about?” Liza inquired closely.
“Will you come?” Gabriel spoke again.
“I do not know if I do not know why.”
With that, Gabriel turned and swam back from where he began.
Liza watched him return to The Meeting Place and go inside before she wondered out loud, “I wonder what is going on?”0
My First Stories 